Because MSL planning is "restricted" these days and we planned a drive on Sol 147, we could not accurately point at targets on Mars on Sol 148. So it was a good time to take care of some instrument health and calibration activities that are periodically needed, including heating of the ChemCam… Read More

The PDS Imaging node has added the following data to the Unified Planetary Coordinate(UPC) Database and is now available through PILOT. Cassini - ISS: Volumes coiss_2072 and coiss_2073, Narrow Angle: 4233 errors and 6343 total files, Wide Angle: 1206 errors and… Read More

The PDS Imaging node has added the following data to the Unified Planetary Coordinate(UPC) Database and is now available through PILOT. Mars Odyssey - THEMIS: Release 42, 781 errors 11665 total files, Start Times 2012-03-25 to 2012-07-02

After the holiday hiatus, the MSL operations team sprang back into action to plan Sol 147 activities. The rover has been waiting patiently for more exciting duties, and she will be rewarded with commands to drive toward a sinuous outcrop named "Snake River." The science team studied the data… Read More

I was Science Uplink Representative (SUR) for the last time for Sol 134 planning. The MSL Project decided to combine the SOWG Chair and SUR jobs starting in the new year, so the SOWG Chairs will be working longer shifts. Sol 134 planning was restricted (data arrived too late to affect planning)… Read More

The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved names for five colles on Titan (Arwen Colles, Bilbo Colles, Faramir Colles, Handir Colles, and Nimloth Colles). The feature formerly called Sotra Facula has been changed to Sotra Patera. For more information, see this image… Read More

I was Geology Science Theme Group Lead today for the first time in several weeks, and it ended up being a busy day. We had to pick the location we want to park the rover during the Christmas/New Year's holiday break, and drive there on Sol 133 so that we get the images taken from the new location… Read More

Planning went more smoothly for Sol 130, mostly because there was no uncertainty about the use of the arm. The biggest decision was whether to use the arm to acquire more APXS and MAHLI data on another target before driving away. Once the data from the Sol 129 observations were verified as good… Read More

We have been waiting for the remaining soil sample in CHIMRA to be dumped before the arm instruments can be fully used again. The Sol 128 plan included cleaning the sample out of CHIMRA and taking Mastcam images to confirm that the cleaning was successful. If that went well, we could plan… Read More

I'm back in Flagstaff after a nice vacation with my wife, catching up on what the rovers have been doing while I was away. MSL has been busy driving down into "Yellowknife Bay," pausing at a layered outcrop dubbed Shaler to acquire remote-sensing data. The rover is now on the floor of… Read More